The End of All Things to Come
by Jack of the Pelt
Summary: 26 years after the defeat of Belial Vamdemon, the Chosen Children have carried on with their lives, for better or for worse. But when a strange man called the Doctor appears and tells them that their lives have been tampered with, do they believe him?
1. The More Things Change…

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Author's Note: Here it is at long last! My long awaited (well, by me at least) Digimon/Doctor Who epic crossover! It features the eighth Doctor and Charley, and is set between the Big Finish audios _Embrace the Darkness_ and _Time of the Daleks_. For those that have noticed the title is taken from the Mudvayne album of the same name, as I thought it fitted the story quite well. By the way, if it seems like I'm couple bashing, it is entirely unintentional, so please don't flame me for it. Also, beware of canon character death! Please don't flame me for that either. But other than that, I hope you enjoy this story and please don't forget to review!

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Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to Toei Animation Co., Disney, Fox Kids, Saban Entertainment and Bandai, Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and both are used without permission.

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The End Of All Things To Come

By Jack Of the Pelt

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Chapter One

The More Things Change…

Somewhere in the infinite realm that was the time vortex, was a large blue box. The box, shaped like a 1960's police telephone box, was in actual fact a TARDIS, a time machine created by a highly advanced race. Inside the TARDIS, in the main console room, a large dark chamber that was both dominated and illuminated by a huge construction that was the craft's control panel, while several alcoves containing shelves of books, clocks, candles and various other artefacts that had been accumulated by the occupants over the centuries. One of these occupants was sitting in a large chair, reading a book. This was Charlotte Pollard, or Charley to her friends. She was a pretty blonde girl who came from a fairly rich family in England in the 1930s.

Suddenly, a tall man with long, curly brown hair breezed into the room from a door that led deeper into the strange craft. He was dressed in the clothes of a mid-to-late 19th century aristocrat, making him look somewhat like the famous poet, Lord Byron.

"Hello, Doctor!" Charley said cheerily, looking up from her book. "I thought you had managed to get yourself lost in there."

The Doctor gave her a smile. "Hello, Charlie, good book?" asked the Doctor as he walked up to the console.

"Yes it is," she replied. "It's the first part of The Lord Of The Rings. It's a bit slow to begin with though, I must say."

The Doctor smiled, and shook his head. "You know, I told old John to leave out the part about Tom Bombadill, but he didn't listen to me," he said. "It was a good job Peter listened to me though…"

The Doctor's reminiscing was cut short when all of a sudden the room started to shake violently, throwing Charley from her chair and making the Doctor grab the console for support.

"Doctor, what's happening?!" the girl cried as she clambered to her feet.

The Doctor hadn't appeared to have heard her. He was busy pressing buttons on the console and flipping switches while he muttered to himself. All of a sudden, the shaking stopped.

Charley rushed up to his side. "Doctor, what on earth was that?" she asked again.

The Time Lord was staring at a readout on one of the screens around the console. After a few seconds, he replied, "That Charley, was an disturbance in the time vortex and -"

"We have to take a look?" his friend said smiling, finishing his sentence for him. "Where are we going then?"

"Tokyo, Japan, June 21st 2028." The Doctor grinned, rubbing his hands together in glee. "I'm quite looking forward to it, I haven't been there for such a long time! I have quite a few friends there, you know," He added enthusiastically.

***

"Sora! Just listen! Please!" cried a blonde haired man, Yamato Ishida, as he followed a red haired woman, his wife Sora, into their bedroom. He had only got home ten minutes ago, and Sora had started to yell at him as soon as he had found her upstairs, packing a suitcase. True, he had been gone for a few months on a mission into space, it was his job as an astronaut, but it hadn't been the first time he had been gone for a long time. Sora had always said it had never bothered her, and she had always welcomed him back with open arms. But not today.

Sora stopped and swung around, a furious look on her face, one which made the man take an involuntary step back. "No Yamato, YOU just listen!" she shouted back at him. "I'm absolutely sick and tired of you never being at home! In the past ten years I've only seen you for a fifth of that time! You weren't even here when Motokatsu was born! I've finally had enough! I want a divorce!"

Yamato took a step back. "What?" he asked, stunned.

"You heard! I WANT A DIVORCE!" She span back around, and continued to pack clothes into a suitcase open on the double bed. She slammed it shut and picked it up, leaving the room. Fortunately, Piyomon and Gabumon were back in the Digital World, while Sora's and Yamato's children were currently at school, so none of them would see the couple arguing.

Yamato had been so shocked by her demand that he didn't notice straight away that Sora had left the room. When he had recovered his wits a few moments later he hurriedly followed her and he found her downstairs putting her shoes on in front of the door.

"Wh-where are you going?!" he asked, his voice starting to break.

"Away from here," she replied simply, getting up and opening the front door. She stopped on the threshold, not looking at him. "And don't try to follow me."

"But-but what about the kids?!" He demanded, as he she headed for their car, Yamato close behind.

A pained expression crossed her face, but she didn't stop as she opened the car door. "We'll sort something out," Sora said as she climbed inside.

"But Sora, I love you!" he cried.

"And I loved you, Yamato. Once." And without another word, she simply slammed the door shut, started the car and drove off down the street.

Yamato went back inside the house. He sat on the couch and put his head in his hands in despair, and started to cry.

***

"Here we are!" the Doctor announced cheerfully, spreading his arms out wide. "The best florist in Japan! Possibly even the universe!"

"Are you sure this is where your friends live, Doctor?" asked Charley dubiously. "It looks a little run down to me."

"Nonsense!" he said, reaching out to open the door. "It's just a little run-" He never finished the sentence, as the door wouldn't budge an inch. "Hmm, must be stuck!"

"It closed down, Doctor," his companion told him. She took a step back to take the whole shop in. "And it look as though it has been for quite a while…"

The Doctor, however, wasn't listening, as he was currently banging on the door. "Hello! Anybody there?" he shouted. "Toshiko? Sora? Are you there? It's the Doctor!"

"Um, excuse me?" asked a female voice behind them.

A woman, probably in her mid-thirties, stood there with a bag of shopping in one hand while a small boy held on to the other, a nervous smile on her face. The little boy was carrying what looked like a very odd looking stuffed toy in his other arm, staring at the two time travellers with wide eyes. The toy the child had seemed very strange looking to Charley. It resembled a small pink ball with huge red eyes, a wide mouth and long floppy ears.

"Hello!" the doctor said brightly to the woman, his friendliest smile on his face. "Could you possibly tell me if this shop is open?"

The woman frowned. "Open?" she said, sounding slightly surprised. "It hasn't been open ever since Mrs Takenouchi died."

"She died?!" the Doctor replied, genuinely shocked. "When did that happen?"

"Oh, about five years ago." The woman shook her head. "It was a great shame, ever since she fell out with her daughter her health had started to fail…"

While the Doctor was talking, Charley gaze wandered until it finally settled on the stuffed toy the child had. She gave it a curious look. She swore it's eyes were staring at the Doctor, but she dismissed it as her imagination playing tricks on her.

And then it closed it's eyes and yawned.

Charley almost jumped back in surprise, but managed to control herself. She blinked a few times, unsure if she was seeing things.

The Doctor, however, was still asking questions. "What about her husband?"

"Oh, I… I don't really know… I'm sorry. He was always away."

"Thank you for your help though," the Doctor smiled. "It's much appreciated."

The woman nodded. "Glad I could help," she said. "Come along Kyono, we have to be back home to make dinner."

They left the two time travellers, and when the mother and her son were out of ear-shot, Charley turned to her friend. "Doctor," she said, "did you see that creature that little boy was carrying?"

"You mean the Digimon? Yes, I did."

"It was like a- what? You mean you know what it was?"

The Doctor nodded gravely. "Yes. It was a 'Digimon', short for digital monster, a living creature made from computer data."

The young woman noticed her friends concern. "What's wrong?"

"It shouldn't be here."

Charley's eyes widened. "You mean they're trying to invade?"

"Oh no no no!" the Doctor replied, furiously shaking his head. "Digimon are like humans; some are good, some evil."

"But what are- " The girl never managed to finish her sentence, as the Doctor was already hurrying away. "Doctor! Where are you going?"

"Come on Charley," the Doctor said as her strode down the street, his companion trying in earnest to keep up. "Something very wrong is going on here!"

***

Just across the road another woman watched the Time Lord and his friend walk off down the street. She cocked her head, a sly smile spreading across her attractive features as she watched as the pair walked away from her up the street. When they had finally disappeared from her field of vision she took a small cell phone from her pocket and after pressing a few buttons, and then she placed the phone against her ear.

***

Inside the tallest building in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, a blonde man sat at desk, staring out at the city below him, a look of disgust was clear on his face while he idly flipped a lighter open and closed.

"Fools," he muttered in contempt. "Little do they know what's out there."

The vidphone on his desk rang, and, in a heartbeat, he place the lighter in front of him and pressed a button the machine for audio only.

"Yes?" he almost barked into the phone. He listened for a few moments and a malicious smile appeared on his face. "Good. Keep an eye on them. Report back when you find out more." He pressed the button again, turning the device off, and then he leant back in his chair, placing the tips of his fingers together, the evil smile still on his face. "So you're finally here, Doctor," he murmured to himself. "It's all going to plan…"

He sat there for a few moments, until the vidphone rang once again, breaking him from his revere. "Yamaki speaking," he said, this time he switch on the image function. On it was a red-haired man with a concerned expression. "What is it this time, Mr Izumi?" Yamaki said impatiently.

Brushing off his superior's brusque manner, Koushiro Izumi went straight to business. "Yamaki, I really don't like these high readings we've been getting from the Digital World just lately. Frankly, I'm worried; the last time we had this type of activity was when- "

"Mr Izumi," Yamaki said, cutting him off. "The last time we had these 'high readings' was last month, and the month before that, and, if I remember correctly, every month since recordings began?"

"But this is different! Have you actually seen them?!" Koushiro replied, a hint of frustration edging into his voice.

"Yes I have, Mr Izumi, and I really think they are absolutely nothing to worry about!" Yamaki replied angrily. "Now I suggest you use all that money the government gave you on something useful, rather than all this scare mongering!"

Koushiro look as though he was about to reply when he was cut of by the phone being turned off by Yamaki.

"Phone, block all incoming calls by Koushiro Izumi!" he barked, and then slumped back into his chair. "If he finds out…" Yamaki muttered to himself, drumming his fingers on the armrest.

***

"Where are we going now, Doctor?" Charley asked the Doctor. The two of them were currently seated in a tube train. On their way to the nearest subway station they had seen many more Digimon, usually in the company of a human, but nobody gave the strange creatures a second glance.

"To the Shinjuku district," the Doctor replied. "An old friend of mine might be there."

"'Might'?"

"Yes, 'might'. Unless that's changed too…"

"Do you think somebody has, er, altered the timeline or something like that?"

"Quite possibly."

"Aren't you jumping to conclusions, Doctor?" Charley said, knowing her friend had a tendency to act rashly sometimes. "What about if we're in- "

"The future?" The Doctor said, finishing her sentence for her. He shook his head. "No, I checked the date. Toshiko was alive and well a year ago; the last time I saw her, and that lady told us she died five years ago."

Charley was quiet for a moment. The Doctor was clearly very worried, and that worried her as well. She turned back to the Time Lord. "So who do you think is doing this?"

The Doctor frowned. "I really don't know, Charley," he told her. "It could be any number of people or species."

"I must say that's terribly reassuring."

"This stop is Shinjuku, please watch your step," a female voice declared. "Again, this stop is Shinjuku."

"Ah ha! This is our stop!" The Doctor said as he sprung to his feet. "Come on Charley, don't dawdle!" The Doctor exited the train without waiting for his friend.

The girl sighed, and hurried after her friend. "Sometimes Doctor," she muttered to herself, "I wonder how on earth I keep up with you…"

***

A short distance behind the two travellers, a boy was following them. He had a worried expression written on his face as he watched the couple in front of him.

"I'm hungry!" said the small dragon-like creature beside the boy. Nobody gave the Digimon a second glance, however. It wasn't unusual to see one in this day and age.

"In a little while!" the young man scolded his companion. "We have to know who those two are, they have something to do with all this. I'm sure of it."

"You really think so?"

The boy considered for a moment. "I know they have something to with what's going on," he said. "My digivice is given off some really weird readings from those two…" He watched as the two foreigners walked into a building that was very familiar to him. He smiled as he remembered what had happened last time he was here, although that hadn't been the same one, but it had been. Or something like that anyway.

"Aren't we gonna follow them in?" asked his reptilian companion

The boy shook his head. "Naw," he replied. "I don't think we'll get any further than the reception desk."

"Can I go and get something to eat, now?"

The young man rolled his eyes. "Sure you can," he said. "But don't go too far or be gone too long, you hear me?"

"Of course!" His friend said happily. He started to walk off, but turned around, a sheepish expression on his face. "Er, can I borrow some money?"

The boy laughed and handed him some coins. "Don't forget to get me something!" he called after the little dragon. After he had gone the boy looked up at the towering building. "Just why do I get the feeling this is all wrong?" he muttered to no one in particular.

***

As they entered the foyer of the tower, the Doctor handed her a plastic card.

"What's this?" she asked, noticing the Doctor was holding one as well.

"Oh, just a UNIT pass," he said, as if that explained everything.

"Doctor, who's Josephine Grant?" she inquired, examining the card. She let out a small laugh when she saw the girl face on the pass. "But I don't look anything like her!"

"Shh, Charley, it's worked before." He walked up to the reception desk, with Charley in tow. "Excuse me miss," he said to the young woman behind the desk. "But could you tell me if Haruhiko Takenouchi works here?"

The girl, who was typing at a keyboard, looked up at him, and almost seemed to turn to jelly as she looked into the Doctor's eyes. "M-may ask you your name please s-sir?"

The Doctor gave her a brilliant smile, and she seemed to melt even more. "Doctor Alistair Bowman, of the United Nations Intelligence Task Force." He crossed his fingers behind his back, hoping that UNIT was still a functioning organisation, and he gestured towards Charley. "And this is my assistant, Charlotte Pollard."

The receptionist turned back to her computer and typed his name in. "Could I, uh, see some identification, please sir?"

"Of course," he said, taking Charlie's ID card and handing it and his own to the girl.

"Thank you sir," she said as she took them. She examined them, and looked at the two of them.

_Oh, no,_ Charley thought. _She'll realise that my card doesn't have the right picture!_

But instead of calling for security, the slotted them one at a time inside a machine by her computer, and for a green light flashed on the device. A few seconds later she handed them back to the Doctor. "Thank you sir, everything seems to be in order, I'll see if Takenouchi-san will see you."

The Doctor smiled again, and took back the ID cards. The receptionist turned to a screen to her side, obscured so that neither of the two time travellers could see who she was speaking to.

"Takenouchi-san? I have a visitor to see you. His name? It's a Doctor Alistair Bowman from UNIT." The girl frowned. "Yes, I'll send him up straight away." The girl smiled and turned to the two of them. "Takenouchi-san will see you, he's currently on the Digital Life Form Research Room on the -"

"Thank you for your help, Megumi, but we'll be able to find it for ourselves."

The girl went a deep crimson. "Uhh, could you wear these please?" she asked, handing the Doctor what looked to Charley like some kind of ID badge. "For security purposes."

"Of course, thank you for all you help," he said, giving her one last smile, before turning away towards the lift with Charley.

"Doctor, you silver tongued devil!" exclaimed Charley, when they were out of earshot of the receptionist. "You you practically had that girl eating out of the palm of your hand!"

"What?!" asked the Doctor, genuinely puzzled. They had reached the lift and he pressed the call button.

"Oh, come on!" she replied. "When see saw you she turned to jelly!"

Her friend rubbed his forehead, "I don't understand what you could possibly mean, Charley."

The girl sighed, giving up. She suddenly remembered something. "How on earth did she accept my card when that picture when I don't look like that girl on it?"

"Yes, well, you humans do get a little over-reliant on technology in the future, so when that scanning device accepted those cards, she didn't question it." The lift arrived with 'ping!' noise, and the doors slid open.

"So, your natural charm had nothing to do with it at all then?" Charley asked impishly as they walked into the lift, the doors closing behind them.

***

The red haired woman who had been following the pair of time travellers earlier walked into the reception area, muttering to herself. "How the hell did I loose 'em?!" she growled under her breath in an odd accent.

The receptionist looked up as she approached the desk, and the girl smiled. "Oh, hi Reika!"

The scowl the woman's face disappeared immediately to be replaced by a smile. "Hi, Megumi! How are thing going? Anything interesting happen while I was gone on break?" Strangely, her accent has changed as well.

An enormous smile spread across Megumi's face. "Oh there was this really cute guy in here a moment ago! He was _soooo_ handsome!"

"Really?" replied Reika, only half listening. "What did he look like?"

A dreamy expression spread across her friends face. "He gorgeous blue eyes -" The girl stopped, puzzlement showing on her face, "or where they green? Well, anyway, he really long curly brown hair, I think he was English or something-"

"What?!" Reika almost shouted as she cut the receptionist off. "Was he wearing old-fashioned clothes?"

Megumi blinked a few times before answering. "Uh, yeah," she said nervously, "I think they looked like they were out of one of those English period dramas or something like that…"

A grin spread across Reika's face "Heh, looks like I didn't lose them after all…"

"What's that?"

"Oh, nothing, Megumi, see you later." Reika walked away from the reception desk towards the lift, she was about to press the call button when her cell phone rang. She took it out of her bag and pressed the receive button.

"I have a little job for you," the man's voice said from the other end. Reika smiled.

***

The Doctor walked into the Digital Life Form Research Room as if he owned the place. He was alone, having sent Charley on a little… excursion to see if see could find anything out in other parts of the building while he came here. As he entered, an old man sitting behind a computer terminal, most probably in his sixties, looked up, and the Time Lord broke into a grin. "Haruhiko! It's been so long!

The old man stared at him in bafflement. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

The Doctor, still grinning, said, "Do you remember 1986, and again in 1997?"

Haruhiko frowned in puzzlement. "I'm afraid I don't remember- " He stopped, and realisation spread across his face, his eyes lighting up. "Of course! I'm a fool! Doctor, how could I possibly forget?"

"Oh, don't worry about that, a lot of people I know do it."

"'Alistair Bowman'? Have you changed you name?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, John Smith was getting a little old…"

Haruhiko laughed, and then looked him up and down. "I see you've 'regenerated' again."

"Yes, quite an improvement over the last one - not so manipulative." The Doctor's expression became mournful. "I'm sorry about Toshiko."

Haruhiko's shoulders visibly slumped. "That's alright," he murmured.

The Doctor mentally berated himself, realising this was a rather sensitive subject. It was possible that Haruhiko blamed himself for her death. Quickly the Time Lord changed the subject. "How's little Sora?"

Haruhiko frowned this time. "I don't know, I haven't seen her for five years."

"Oh, well -"

Suddenly before the Doctor could say anything else, a man in his early forties with dark hair and glasses entered the room.

"Ah, Shuu, I'm glad your back; I'd like you to meet a good friend of mine," he said getting to his feet. "This is Doctor- "

"Doctor Alistair Bowman!" the Doctor exclaimed, thankful that the subject had been changed, smiling warmly, and he grabbed Shuu hand, shaking it furiously.

"Er, pleased to meet you Dr. Bowman," Shuu said, caught off guard by the Doctor's friendliness.

"Please, just call me the Doctor."

Before Shuu could reply a man in his late thirties hurried in, a strange red insect like creature at his side. The man had a bundle of papers in his hand. "Haruhiko, I think you should have a look at these readings, something very odd is going on in the Digital Wor- " He stopped as he noticed the Doctor. "Oh, hello."

"Hello!" the Doctor said, almost grinning from ear to ear.

"Doctor, this is the man we're working with on the study of the digital world; Kou- "

"Koushiro Izumi!"

The man blinked. "Have we met?"

"Have we met?! Of course we've met-" Then the Doctor shook his head. "No, sorry, of course we haven't…"

"Ahem! What about me, Koushiro?" The insect creature asked.

Koushiro looked down at the digimon beside him. "Oh, sorry." He turned back to the Doctor. "Doctor, this my digimon partner, Tentomon."

The insect creature flew up level with the doctor and held out a claw. "Delighted to meet you, Doctor…?"

The Time Lord shook the limb with a smile. "Likewise, and it's just Doctor, thank you Tentomon."

"Don't you have your own partner, Doctor?" asked Shuu.

A sly smile spread across his face. "Oh, she's not here at the moment."

"'She'?" asked Shuu. "You have a female Digimon as your partner, Doctor?"

"It's not that unusual," remarked Koushiro. "After all, didn't Miyako have a male partner?"

"That's right, although the ratio of female to male digimon is small, it is slightly strange that you have a female partner."

Haruhiko picked up a cane nearby and climbed to his feet. "Doctor, would you like a guided tour?"

The Doctor grinned like a child let loose in a sweet shop. "Yes, please!"

"Umm, Professor?" asked Koushiro.

"Koushiro?" inquired Professor Takenouchi.

"If it's at all possible could you look at these later today," the red-haired man said, holding up a sheath of papers. "I think they're quite important."

"Of course, Koushiro. Just place them on my desk and I'll have look at them when I get back."

"Yes, thank you professor," Koushiro said, sounding relieved as walked up to Haruhiko's desk. "I've tried to tell Yamaki about this but he won't listen."

"Oh, he never listens to anybody," replied Professor Takenouchi.

"Is it okay if I take my break now, Takenouchi-san?" asked Shuu. "It's just that I have to see my brother and his wife at 13.30 for lunch."

"If it's okay with Koushiro," Takenouchi said, turning to his colleague.

The man nodded. "Fine with me, me and Tentomon should be able to look after everything here. Give my regards to Jyou and Jun."

"Will do," he said, smiling in gratitude as he grabbed his coat.

As he left, Haruhiko turned now, Doctor-" He noticed his friend's puzzled expression. "What is it?"

"Did you just see someone walk in just after Shuu left?"

Haruhiko looked at the door, then around the room, then back at the Doctor. "No, I'm afraid I didn't."

The Doctor frowned. "That's strange; I'm sure I saw someone else come into the room…" He shrugged, dismissing it. "Must have been my imagination."

As the two of them went to leave the room, Haruhiko said, "I'll show you the Juggernaut project first Doctor, if you managed get up here you should have sufficient clearance to see that." Just before he left, he turned to his colleague. "See you later, Koushiro."

"Bye, Professor," he said as he sat down at a computer terminal. "Please, don't forget about those readings."

"I won't," he said as he closed the door behind himself and the Doctor.

As Koushiro settled himself down to work, he noticed Tentomon wasn't in his usually place beside him, he looked around the room to see the insect digimon, looking around the room. "What is it, Tentomon?

"Koushiro, where is that ticking noise coming from?" asked Tentomon.

"Ticking noi-"

But he never managed to finish the sentence, as the room was consumed in an explosion.

***

"What is this Juggernaut project, then?" The Doctor asked as they walked at a leisurely pace down the corridor towards the lift.

Haruhiko grinned. "It's a device we've developed to-"

But Haruhiko never finished what he was about to say either. The explosion that erupted from the room they had just left. knocked both of them off their feet.

***

The boy and his reptilian friend, the very same pair that had been watching the Doctor and Charley earlier, were standing just across the street from the building, both of them eating hamburgers, waiting for the Time Lord and his companion, when the explosion had shook the building. Both of them had leapt to pavement, covering their heads, the two of them both dropping their burgers.

"Come on!" the boy cried, as he climbed to his feet. "People are gonna need our help!"

"Aww!" complained the purple lizard, staring mournfully down at his fallen meal. "I hadn't finished my hamburger!"

The boy rolled his eyes as he grabbed the creatures arm and dragged it towards the building.

***

Charley had been wandering around the building for nearly half an hour now and had found nothing of interest. Nobody had really given a second glance apart from a security guard who wanted to see her ID badge, and he had been satisfied after he had seen it, leaving her alone after wishing her a nice day. But other than that, she hadn't come across anything suspicious in the slightest.

And then the explosion had shook the building.

Charley had been knocked clean off her feet and a few seconds later a bell started to ring, most probably the fire alarm.

"Please proceed to your nearest fire exit in a calm and orderly fashion," the relaxed tones of a woman's voice spoke as Charley climbed to her feet. "Please do not panic, the emergency services have been notified and are on their way. Please proceed to your…" The voice kept repeating the statement over and over.

"Doctor!" she muttered quietly to herself, worried for her friend. "I hope he's alright…" Concerned, but not wishing to linger in this place, she followed signs that had previously had directions to various areas of the building written on them, but had now changed, pointing the way to the fire exits. As she walked around the corner someone crashed into her at speed, knocking her over once again.

Angry, Charley started to get to her feet. "Oh, I know we're supposed to be hurry out of this building, but -" the blonde girl began, about to give whoever it was a piece of her mind, but stopped and gasped as she looked up at the person who had ran into her.

Bizarrely, the woman standing before her had unnatural looking white - almost green - skin and was wearing what looked a sleeveless black leather cat suit. She also wore fingerless elbow length brown leather gloves (her nails were long and sharp; almost like claws), the backs of the hands and the knuckles covered by metal plates, a cross belt holding several throwing knives and pouches, with two larger blades in sheaths strapped to her thighs, with shoulder, elbow, and knee guards, and finally brown boots with steel toe caps. Her long, luxurious wine red hair was tied into several braids while long, pointed, almost elf-like ears emerged from underneath it. Strangely, she also had a long, rat-like tail that swished back and forth, seemingly made from metal. But the most unusual thing about her, however, was the mask she was wearing.

It looked like a flat metallic skull with a pointed bottom half, but with diamond shaped eyes and no nose, while eight slits, four on each side, made up the mouth. The final detail were the two horns, long and flat, that stretched from the top of the sides of the mask, bending slightly at the top.

"You!" the strange woman snarled, her voice tinny coming though the mask.

"Er, me?"

"Heh heh heh!" the strange woman giggled, reaching for one of her larger knives. "What luck! Literally killing two birds with one stone!"

Charley backed off up against the wall. This 'woman' was clearly insane, and clearly wanted to kill her. "Can't we talk about this?"

"No," the woman replied, drawing one of her knives. "WEEPING BLADE!" the woman cried as she thrust the knife forward, as a viscous looking liquid now seeping from it, towards Charley's heart…

To be continued…


	2. The Memories Remain

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Author's Notes: I'm getting worse… the gaps between stories are getting bigger and the chapters shorter! It's also a bit rushed, so I'll try better in the future. Anyway, thanks goes to both Roku and Canis, the only two people to review the first chapter. Cheers! On a side note, I've met both Sophie Aldred (Ace) and Colin Baker (the sixth Doctor)! Bully for me, eh?

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Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to Toei Animation Co., Disney, Fox Kids, Saban Entertainment and Bandai, Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and both are used without permission.

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The End Of All Things To Come

By Jack Of the Pelt

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Chapter Two

The Memories Remain

"You!" the strange woman snarled, her voice tinny coming though the mask.

"Er, me?"

"Heh heh heh!" the strange woman giggled, reaching for one of her larger knives. "What luck! Literally killing two birds with one stone!"

Charley backed off up against the wall. This 'woman' was clearly insane, and clearly wanted to kill her. "Can't we talk about this?"

"No," the woman replied, drawing one of her knives. "WEEPING BLADE!" the woman cried as she thrust the knife forward, as a viscous looking liquid now seeping from it, towards Charley's heart…

The girl closed her eyes, and awaited the killing blow.

But it never came.

Charley opened her to see the knife had stopped just barely an inch away from her chest. A large blue hand was wrapped around the woman's wrist.

The strange woman looked up at the owner of hand, who was several feet taller than her, she managed to say "Who-?" before Charley's saviour punched her across the corridor with an audible crack. She slammed into the wall and slid down it.

Charley blinked a few times, staring at her former assailant, now slumped against the corridor wall, and then finally took a look at whoever had saved her. She stared in shocked disbelief at the creature standing over her, who looked like a tall blue lizard man. He was well protected, with armour on his shoulders, waist, fists and even the tip of his tail. He also wore a metal mask, which had bright red hair emerging from underneath it, and dark green combat trousers. A bright red symbol was emblazoned across it's chest.

"Are you alright, miss?" it said in a gruff voice.

Charley, too surprised to speak, simply nodded.

Before he - Charley was pretty sure it was a he - could reply, there was a scream of anger and the lizard man was knocked to floor as a black blur barreled into him. He threw it off of him and scrambled to his feet, automatically going into a fighting stance.

The blur - the woman who had attacked Charley - was standing opposite him, a long knife in each hand and a third one held, strangely, by her tail.

Charley suddenly noticed that there was another person present, a handsome brown haired boy about her age standing at the other end of the corridor. He was examine a device with what looked like some sort of 3D holographic display. "She's LadyFomorimon! A Data type Phantom Digimon!" the boy cried, looking up, "She's at Perfection level, so be careful Strikedramon!"

"Nothing I can't handle, Ryo!" the lizard man - Strikedramon - replied. "Don't worry about me!"

"My, my! Aren't we the confident little one! Well, try THIS!" She charged at the male digimon, back flipping into the air at the last minute. "SLASH KICK!" she cried as her feet looked like a single blade for a split second. Even quicker, Strikedramon leapt back out of the way of the attack and swiped at her with a two fingered claw.

"STRIKE CLAW!" he bellowed, as his adversary landed on her feet.

Reacting quickly, she ducked, and his attack ripped a chunk out of the wall behind her. As she went down, she performed a text book sweep kick, knocking her foe's legs from underneath him and he fell onto his back with a thump. Seeing this opening, she plunged the two knives in her hands downwards. "WEEPING BLADE!" she shouted once again. Strikedramon rolled out of the way, and knives went into the floor, the acid hissing, melting part of the floor away. The other digimon kicked out with both his feet, catching LadyFomorimon in the side, knocking her across the corridor, only for her to land perfectly on her feet.

"Shit!" she swore as the two digimon swiftly climbed back to their feet. They both assumed fighting positions once more.

Panting, Strikedramon said, "Hmph, girl, you're good!"

"Thank you!" she replied cheerfully. "You're not so bad yourself!"

They stood like that for a few seconds, getting their breath back, and waiting for the other to make the first move. It was a stand off.

Bizarrely, a tune started playing.

LadyFomorimon looked crestfallen. "Damnation! That's my cue to leave!" She blew Strikedramon a kiss though her mask. "Ciao, handsome, we'll meet again!" she said in farewell, before she literally melted into the shadows.

"Hey! Come back!" roared Strikedramon. "I haven't finished you yet, girl!"

The boy ran up to his large reptilian friend. "Leave it Strikedramon; I have a feeling you two will meet again." The boy turned to Charley and held out his hand. "Are you okay, miss…uh?" The boy went a bright crimson as the girl took it. Instead of helping her to her feet as she expected, he stood there staring at her hand in his.

"Ahem?" Charley coughed.

The boy blinked, but quickly realised what he was doing. "Oh! Sorry!" He quickly helped her to her feet.

"Charlotte Pollard."

"Sorry?"

"You asked me my name," the girl replied. "It's Charlotte Pollard, but you can call me Charley. What's yours?"

"Uh, it's Ryo," he answered as he helped her to her feet. "Ryo Akiyama."

***

"Koushiro!!!" Haruhiko yelled as he attempted to get passed the flames that had appeared in the wake of explosion. The sprinklers had started, but they were having little or no effect on the fire that was springing up.

"No, don't!" The Doctor said, pulling him back.

"But -"

"No," the Doctor told him firmly.

Shuu had pelted back down the corridor to them a minute or so after the explosion. Panting, he asked, "What happened?"

Haruhiko looked at him with haunted eyes. "After the Doctor and I left the room, there was a tremendous explosion and… Koushiro was still in there."

"Koushiro! We should-" he went to go towards the ruined lab, but the Doctor barred his way. Shuu looked as though he was about to argue, but the Time Lord cut him off.

"I'll go," he told them.

The two men looked at him in surprise. "But Doctor…" Haruhiko began, but trailed off.

"Oh don't worry about me," the Doctor said. "I've had plenty of experience in this kind of situation! Here, could you look after this for me please?" This last remark was direct at Shuu as the Doctor handed him his green velvet coat. "Now I suggest you both leave the building as fast you possibly can before this gets even worse than it already is."

"Good luck, Doctor," Haruhiko said. The Doctor nodded before headed towards the lab, while the others left for the nearest fire exit.

***

Holding an arm up instinctively to keep the heat away, the Doctor scanned the room for Koushiro. Not finding him with his sight, the Doctor stretched out his other senses. He quickly found him lying beneath a nearby desk which must have, luckily, shielded him from part of the blast. He was, however, bruised and bleeding, semi-conscious with slight burns. The Doctor hurried over to him, avoiding the flames. Kneeling beside Koushiro, he said, "Koushiro, Are you awake?"

A groan was his answer as the red haired man opened his eyes, blinking blearily up at the Time Lord. "D-Doctor?"

"Take it easy," the Doctor told him, examining his bleeding forehead. "You've had a nasty knock by the looks of things."

"W-where's Tentomon?" Koushiro asked weakly.

The Doctor frowned sadly. "I think he's been deleted," he said gravely.

"I knew it…" He looked to the Doctor as if he was about to cry. "I felt it when he died…"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be Doctor," Koushiro said, and coughed violently. "It's not your fault."

The Doctor looked around them at the surrounding flames. "I should really leave you here, but in these circumstances it would be better to get you out of this place…" he said as he put the red haired man onto his back. "Now, lets get out of here before it gets even worse."

***

Haruhiko and Shuu had left the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building swiftly as possibly by the nearest fire escape, and they both headed for the front of the building, to see that the emergence services had already arrived.

"Haruhiko!!!" yelled a voice as they walked towards the crowd.

"Ken?" Haruhiko said in surprise, not expecting to see the dark haired man, heading towards them. "What are you doing here? I don't think this is a job for a detective just yet…"

Ken shook his head. "I'm not here on official business," he told the old man. "Koushiro asked if I could come and see him."

"What for?" inquired Shuu.

Ken shrugged. "I have no idea," he admitted. "He said it was very important, though. Where is he anyway?"

Haruhiko looked back up at the damaged building, where smoke was pouring from where their lab and offices had been. "I'm afraid he was caught in the blast…"

Ken's eyes widened. "Oh, gods…" he murmured.

"Hey, Ken! Haruhiko!"

All three of them turned in the direction the voice had come from to see a man in a suit with what looked like a small orange dinosaur struggling to keep up with him.

"What the hell is going on?!" The dark haired man asked, almost crashing into the old man. "I was just coming to see you Haruhiko, when I saw that explosion up there!"

"It's Koushiro," Ken told him.

Taichi paled. "What's happened to him?"

"I'm afraid he was in our lab when the explosion hit," Haruhiko said. "I don't know if he's alright."

Taichi tightened his fists, but said nothing.

Agumon had been staring up at the plume of smoke coming from the building. "Not another bombing…" the digimon said, shocked.

"I'm afraid it looks that way, Agumon," Ken told him.

"Why do they do it, Taichi?" Agumon asked his friend. "We've never done anything to them!"

Taichi looked angry for just a moment, but then it was gone. "I wish I knew, Agumon," he said. "I wish I knew…"

"Who knows how a terrorist's mind works?" Ken commented, but he avoided saying that it could have equally been a digimon that had planted the bomb, as he doubted that would have helped the mood.

"Why are they taking so long?" Taichi said. They all turned to look towards the front doors, where a gathering of the fire crew, both human and digimon were about to go in. "Why are they hesitating to go in?!"

"Because of those two!" said Shuu, happily surprised. "Haruhiko, it's Dr Bowman! And he has Koushiro with him!"

"Ha! I knew I could count on the Doctor!" Haruhiko said, looking for all the world as if he was about to dance around in joy.

"Well I'll be…" Ken said, open mouthed.

***

"Hmm," said the Doctor, as he saw the ambulance crews rushing towards him as he left the building though the front doors. "That was quick; I am really quite impressed." He gladly let a young female paramedic take Koushiro off of him, knowing that they would take good care of the unconscious man, but waved away any attempts by the others to take a look at him.

As he watched Haruhiko's group hurrying over, he saw the dark haired man in the long coat - Ken, one of the few Chosen he had not really get to know - say a few words to the others, before splitting from the group to join Koushiro in an ambulance, after sharing a few more words with the paramedic.

When Haruhiko and the two others - Shuu and a man the Doctor recognized as an older Taichi Yagami - the old man clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Doctor! I knew you could do it!"

"That was amazing Dr Bowman!" Shuu said as he gave the Doctor's coat back to him. "Is Koushiro okay?"

"He's fine from what I could see," the Doctor told them as he put his coat back on. "Only a few cuts and burns; he must have been shielded by his desk. But I'm afraid some permanent psychological damage has been done…"

Haruhiko's face fell. "Tentomon's been deleted." It wasn't a question.

The Doctor nodded sadly.

"Oh, dear gods," Shuu said, turning away.

There was a silence in the group for a few moments, as if they were silently mourning the lost of Koushiro's partner and closest friend.

"Doctor…?" Taichi murmured. He had been staring at the Time Lord ever since he had first saw him, as if trying hard to remember if he had met him before at some point.

The Doctor looked up at him. "Yes, Taichi?"

"Doctor!" Taichi cried, grabbing the Time Lord's hand in an almost bone crushing grip. "It is you! After all these years!"

"Taichi!" the Doctor grinned as the brown haired man let him go, the tragedy momentarily forgotten. "How on earth did you recognize me?"

Taichi shrugged. "I dunno…" he replied, "it only took me a couple of seconds to realize who you were…"

"Doctor!" Agumon said, excited to see the Time Lord again as his partner was. "Where's Bernice? How is she? Is she okay?"

The Doctor gave a light hearted chuckle, remembering that the dinosaur digimon, strangely, had a crush on his old archeologist companion. "Last time I visited her, she was a professor of archeology at a university, and doing quite well for herself," the Doctor told him with a smile, but he then looked distant for a second. "I really must pay another visit to her sometime in the future…"

"Uh, I don't mean to interrupt," Shuu said, feeling a little left out of the conversation, "but how do you know the Doctor, Taichi?"

"Oh, I met him about twenty five years ago," Taichi replied enthusiastically. "But he was this little Scot -"

"Well, the Doctor knows most of the original Chosen Children," Haruhiko said, before Taichi could say anything… _difficult_ to explain. "It was the summer of 2003, wasn't it, Doctor?"

The dark haired man nodded in the affirmative. "But you've know me for a lot longer than that, haven't you Haruhiko?"

"Yes," the old man replied, remembering that fateful day when his life changed completely when he had first met the Doctor. "That was quite an adventure, if a bit of a nightmare." Memories came unbidden to him, memories of horrific creatures in barnacle encrusted black armour rising from the depths of the ocean, shrouded in fog as they snatched their victims from their homes in that little seaside town, taking them back to the sea…

"How long ago was that?" asked Shuu, curious, snapping him from his reverie.

"What? Oh, er…" Haruhiko didn't really know what to say. How could he tell him that this had been in 1986? And the fact that the Doctor had been a completely different man back then,? A man with a mop of curly hair and a wide toothy grin?

Fortunately, he didn't have to. "Oh, quite some time ago," the Doctor told Shuu. "Personally I can't remember myself."

***

Meanwhile, in the ambulance that contained Koushiro and Ken, the red haired man was slowly coming around.

"Koushiro, how are you?" asked the police detective as the red haired man opened his eyes.

"Ken," Koushiro said shakily. "Am I glad to see you."

"Why?" asked Ken, gently. "What was so important that you had to see me?"

"This…" Koushiro reached into his jacket and produced a small CD.

"What is it?" asked Ken as he took the disc.

"It's this month's readings from the Digital World…"

"What's so important about them?" Ken said as he placed the disc into his coat pocket.

There was no reply. Ken looked back at Koushiro, who had closed his eyes. He looked up at the paramedic across from him.

"It's okay," the paramedic told him. "He's become unconscious again, but he's stable."

Ken nodded. Sitting back, he remained quiet for the rest of the journey to the hospital, wondering what was so important about the disc Koushiro had just given him…

***

"So who could have done this?" the Doctor asked, pointing to where smoke was billowing out of the building above them.

"Oh, could be any number of people, Doctor," Taichi told him. "Religious fundamentalists, racial purity freaks, digimon who want humans to stop 'contaminating' their world… the list is endless."

"So this has happened before?" the Doctor asked.

Taichi nodded. "And I doubt it'll be the last time," he said. "It's mine and Agumon's job to keep good relations between the two worlds."

"But surely there are more public places they could attack, why here?"

Taichi shrugged. "Why not? This place has the closest connection to study of the Digital World, making it a good a place as any."

"But-" the Doctor began.

"We should have expected this," said a voice behind the group, cutting him off suddenly.

"Huh?" Haruhiko said, turning around. "Oh, it's you, Yamaki."

Standing before them was a blond man, possible in his early thirties, wearing a navy business suit and dark glasses. "That's Mr. Yamaki to you, Mr. Takenouchi," he almost growled. "I am your superior, after all."

Haruhiko gave a quick bow. "Forgive me, Yamaki-san," the old man said with a little mock sincerity. "It won't happen again."

Yamaki glared at him for a second, but said nothing and turned to the Doctor. "Who is this?"

"Doctor Alistair Bowman!" the Doctor said, thrusting his hand out so the other man could shake it. "Of UNIT." 

Yamaki stared at the offered hand as if it belonged to a leper. He looked back up at the Doctor. "Mitsuo Yamaki," the blonde man said simply, without shaking hands.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes, as if studying every detail on the man's face. "Haven't we met before?"

The other man remained expressionless. "I don't think so."

A beautiful woman walked up to Yamaki. She had hair a deep shade of unnatural looking red, pale skin, and eyes that were perhaps _too_ green. "Sir?" she asked him.

He turned to her. "What is it?" he snapped irritably.

If the young woman was shocked by his manner, she didn't show it. "Sir, the Chief Cabinet Secretary wants to speak to you on the phone," she said in an accent that sounded oddly English, but not quite.

"Hmph, I'll be with him in a second," Yamaki said. He turned back to the Doctor. "Perhaps we'll meet again." And with those parting words he left with his secretary.

"Rumour has it that those two are lovers," Shuu murmured as he watched the two leave.

"I hate that callous bastard," Taichi said though gritted teeth, clenching his fists.

"I don't like him at all either, Taichi," growled Agumon. "there's something not quite right about that guy…"

"A friendly sort, isn't he?" the Doctor observed. "He doesn't look very Japanese though, does he?"

"Oh, his father is Japanese and his mother is American, apparently, but whether that's true or not I don't know," Haruhiko told him. "Yamaki is in change of the Juggernaut project, by the way."

"And that girl?"

"Reika?" Haruhiko frowned. "I don't really know much about her, except for the fact that she's been Yamaki's secretary ever since he arrived a year ago to work here."

"Hmm," the Doctor said, pondering. "You'll have to tell me more about this Juggernaut project, Haruhiko…"

"Doctor!" called a voice behind them before the Doctor's old friend could say anything.

The group turned around to see a young, pretty blonde girl hurrying towards them, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The Doctor gave a wide smile, recognizing the girl, but feeling guilty for forgetting about her during the current crisis. "Charley! I'm so glad to see you safe!"

Charley gave him a hug. "You too Doctor!" She panted, out of breath. "When the alarms went off I thought you'd gotten yourself into some kind of trouble!" she laughed.

"Charley you know me better than that!"

"Who's this Doctor?" asked Haruhiko. "Another traveling companion?"

Before the Doctor could introduce her, Charley went ahead. "Hello, sir!" she said with her most charming smile, holding out her hand. "My name is Charlotte Pollard, but you can call me Charley."

The old man took her hand and shook it. "Hello, my dear," he said. "I'm Haruhiko Takenouchi, this is my assistant Shuu Kido and my friend Taichi Yagami," indicating the others as he said this, who nodded respective names where mentioned.

She greeted both of them, smiling, before turning back to her friend. "Doctor, I have so much to tell you!"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Well then, you can tell me on the way!"

"On the way?" she asked. "Where are we going now?"

"There are several places and people I want to check…" he replied.

"Uh, Doctor," Taichi said, interrupting him. "I don't think you should leave just yet."

"Hmm…?" asked the Doctor. "Why not, Taichi?

Taichi pointed. "I think we should tell them what happened to you first."

The Time Lord looked to where his old friend was pointing, only to see two police officers were walking towards them. "Of course," the Doctor sighed. "We'll go, but not before the police have a little word with us."

***

"Well, what do you think?" Reika said as Yamaki put down the phone, grinning, her accent changing once again. "Quite a show, isn't it?" They were alone, so there was no worry about anyone overhearing her. She wasn't, however, going to tell Yamaki about her meeting with the blonde girl and her subsequent battle with the big blue lizard. It would have been embarrassing to admit she actually had her hands full.

"A little extreme, wasn't it?" Yamaki asked his secretary.

Reika ran a hand though her long red hair. "Hmph," she growled. "It got the job done, didn't it? Besides they'll probably think it's one of those Human Anti-Digimon or Digimon Anti-Human groups or whatever's fashionable this year."

"He's still alive."

Reika looked crestfallen. "Awww! That's bloody great! I wasted a whole bomb on him!" she muttered. "He could have had the decency to die!"

"Well, I want you to finish off the job. Go to the hospital he was taken to tonight and kill him."

"Just great! More bloody work for me!"

Yamaki wasn't listening to her complaining; instead he was staring up at the smoke pouring out from the building above them.

"Boss?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"He was there."

"Who was?"

"Oh," Yamaki replied, smiling. "Just a very old acquaintance…"

Suddenly, it went pitch black and he was somewhere else.

_Koschei._

The voice came from everywhere at the same time but it did not worry Yamaki in the slightest. He rolled his eyes. "Oh, what is it now?" he demanded irritably. "I've followed your orders to the letter."

_Insolent dog._

A sharp, white hot pain seared though Yamaki's mind, and he collapsed to the floor with a scream, clutching his head. "What have I done wrong this time?" he snarled though gritted teeth. "If it's about that Chosen Izumi, he's already being dealt with, so stop taking your frustrations out on me!"

_It is not the Chosen of Knowledge I worry about, Koschei, it is the Chosen of Kindness that concerns me._

"Ken Ichijouji?" Yamaki said as he climbed back to his feet. "What about him?"

_Knowledge gave him disc which has information that is very… _sensitive_, it may endanger what we are trying to do._

"Hmph, I'll deal with that personally, while my little assassin deals with Izumi." He paused for a second before continuing. "One other thing…"

_Yes?_

"The Doctor is here."

_I know. And so is he._

"'He'?"

_It does not concern you. Now go._

And with that Yamaki was back in Tokyo walking alongside Reika once again.

***

"Miyako?" Ken called as he walked into his family's apartment, throwing his coat onto a chair in the hall after removing his shoes. "Miyako! Are you home?"

There was no reply. _She's probably taken the kids to their grandparents_, he thought, and found a note confirming this in the kitchen. It also said that she would be back before six, bringing a takeaway dinner with her..

He had left the hospital after the doctor's there had told him his friend was stable, an hour after they had arrived. Realizing there was nothing more he could there, he had asked them if they could contact him when Koushiro had regained consciousness. He had caught a bus home and now he was alone in the apartment.

Or so he had thought.

As he entered the living room, he found an unexpected guest.

"Yamaki?!" Ken said, surprised and shocked to find him in his house. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

The blonde man was sitting back in an armchair, his fingers steepled. He was not wearing a business suit anymore; he was now wearing more casual clothes and a long, black leather coat, but he still wore the his trademark dark glasses. "Ah Mr. Ichijouji, I'm so pleased to see you," he said as he got up from his chair, smiling like shark. He started to walk towards the other man, which made Ken take an instinctive step back, but Yamaki stopped meter or so away from him. "Now would you please be ever so kind and give me the disc Mr. Izumi gave you earlier today?"

Yamaki's hand shot out and grabbed him by the throat, catching Ken completely off guard. The other man lifted him off the ground as if he weighed no more than a small child, Yamaki's expression changing into a snarl almost instantly. "I don't have time for games, Ken! Where is the disk?!"

Ken gasped for air, his eyes bulging. Yamaki's grip was like a vice, his strength unbelievable. "W-what disc?"

"I don't like it when people lie," he said simply, and tossed him across the room. He crashed into the wall and fell onto the floor.

"How utterly pathetic!" Ken's assailant spat. "The Digimon Kaiser indeed!"

Ken's eyes widened in shock. How the hell did he know that he was formerly the Kaiser?! Only his closest friends were aware of that!

"How did I know?" The man smiled, as if reading his mind. Yamaki walked slowly towards him. "My people have some _very _special talents…"

"Your _people_?!" Ken gasped, looking up at Yamaki as he rubbed his neck. "Do you belong to one of those Anti-Digimon Terrorist groups?"

Yamaki didn't answer his question, but shook his head instead. Smirking as he did so, he produced what looked like a black wand from the inside of his coat.

Yamaki noticed Ken's puzzled expression. "It's what you call a Tissue Compression Eliminator, or TCE for short." He pointed the strange device at the police detective. "I'm going to use it on you if you don't listen to me."

Ken held his hands up, as if he instinctively thought that would defend him. "Yamaki, what are you doing?!"

"It's not Yamaki," he corrected. "My name is the Master."

"What?!"

Yamaki - the Master removed his dark glasses with his other hand, staring deeply into Ken's eyes. "_I am the Master, and you will obey me_," he intoned slowly. "_I am the Master, and you will obey me_!"

"Huh…?" Ken muttered, completely confused now, but unable to tear his eyes away from the blonde man's. "Yamaki what are you -" Suddenly all resistance left Ken, his eyes going blank and lifeless, and his arms slumped to his sides.

"Very good , Ken," he told his hypnotized victim. "Now; where is the disk Koushiro gave you?"

Ken pointed into the hallway. "It's in my right coat pocket," he replied in monotone, his face still blank.

"Excellent," the Master said, a smile on his face. "Now I want you to go to bed and go to sleep, returning to normal when you wake, forgetting all about this disk and my little visit here. When your wife returns home, if she asks why you were in bed tell her you didn't feel very well. Do you understand, Ken?"

"Yes, my Master."

"Good. Now go."

Ken left the room without a word, his expression unchanged.

Not sparing a glance for Ken as he left the room, the Master left the living room and into the hallway. He picked up the police detective's coat and rummaged thought the pockets, eventually finding a small compact disc with the words _Digital World Readings_ written in Japanese kanji on it's label. He placed it inside a pocket in his own coat and re-entered the living room.

Smiling in satisfaction, the Master unlocked a cupboard in the room - one that hadn't been there before - and climbed in, shutting the door behind him. A short while after he had closed the door, there was a strange noise, like the grinding of ancient machinery, and the cupboard faded into thin air…

To be continued…


End file.
